


Tale as Old as Time

by SilverAmoebasquid



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Beauty and the Beast AU, M/M, happy 1/10 its terushira day, i know. hide the children, just in case you are allergic to soft cute things like i am, my second favorite holiday after christmas :D, no one asked for this but here i am, warning: 16th century fashion, warning: fluff, warning: sex mention/implication/suggestion, warning: some bloodshed in the name of chivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-10
Updated: 2018-01-10
Packaged: 2019-03-03 01:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,412
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13330575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverAmoebasquid/pseuds/SilverAmoebasquid
Summary: Tale as old as timeTrue as it can beBarely even friendsThen somebody bendsUnexpectedlyJust a little changeSmall to say the leastBoth a little scaredNeither one preparedBeauty and the Beast





	1. Be Our Guest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewatched Disney's Beauty and the Beast (the original animated good stuff. none of this remake nonsense for ya girl) and I swear if you listened close enough, you could hear the gears turning in my head as I made it into a TeruShira AU and man, it was fun.

With the lights low in the bar, Yuuji grinned at his designated partner for the night. She was short, slight, brunette, and gorgeous. His hand slipped down to her waist and she looked back at him. Shadows grew long and dark across the planes of her cheeks and she looked absolutely royal in the warm room, seated next to him at the wood counter, a drink in her hand. Yuuji drummed his fingers on his own empty glass.

“Yuuji,” she whispered directly in his ear. “Let’s get out of here. My place?”

“Sure, babe,” Yuuji replied absently, his eyes flitting over the bar scene, taking in the sights, smells, sounds, people, voices, laughter, lights. Only a short distance away, a redheaded man he hung around with was chatting with friends. Yuuji wondered if he’d been noticed. He wondered if it mattered to be seen by one date in front of another.

“Hey, look at me?”

Yuuji snapped back into the present, gazing into the chocolate eyes before him. He cupped the soft skin of her cheek and flashed a signature grin. “What’s up, sweetheart?”

“Did you hear what I just said?”

“Uhh... We’re going to your place for the night?”

“I asked... if you would spend a lot more nights at my place. Yuuji, we’ve been going out for a few months and I want to move in together.”

Yuuji blinked. “A f-few months, yeah, but we haven’t, like, been on  _ that _ many dates. Aren’t you going a little quick?”

“A little quick? Yuuji, you said you like moving quick. Why not?”

“Uhh? Yeah, but we aren’t exclusive or anything. You knew that, right?”

“Well, yeah, but I haven’t really been seeing anyone because... You... Are you seeing someone else?”

Yuuji laughed sheepishly, rubbing his hand over the back of his head. “Maybe? Maybe like four or five other people? Two of them are here right now but I don’t think they’ve seen me yet which is good... To be entirely honest, I didn’t think you were all that invested in us. I thought we were just—”

The sting flashed across his cheek and Yuuji reeled backward, blinking quickly.

“Five? Five other people? Why?”

“Fun?”

“Oh my god, I can’t even believe you! Who even am I to you!?”

“Babe, I.... I don’t know how to say this. I really didn’t think you cared about me. Don’t slap me again, but I definitely wasn’t taking us seriously. I... don’t remember your name.”

Lips turning downward, her brown eyes watered. “God, I’m an idiot. Why did I fall for you? People warned me this would happen! It’s always the same with you!” Without a goodbye, she turned on her heel and fled, red dress fluttering behind her.

Yuuji watched silently until the bar door shut behind her and he sighed. He probably should’ve handled things differently. He probably could’ve done a lot of things differently, starting by saying no when someone he didn’t have much interest in asked him out. He had five other cases like that to deal with though and he didn’t have the will to tell them off.

“Hey, nice going, loverboy.”

Yuuji rolled his eyes but perked up when his two best friends slid onto the barstools on either side of him.

“Another one bites the dust I see,” Takeharu shook his head.

Kazuma snickered. “You admitted you forgot her name, didn’t you. Yuuji, that’s the kind of thing that’s going to lose you a lady.”

“I didn’t have the heart to tell her before.” Yuuji shrugged. “I forgot five seconds after she told me the first time at my house so I’ve just been laying on the ‘babe’ and ‘darling’ and ‘lover’ nonsense. She never had to find out.”

“Her name’s Hana, you dunce. You are the worst boyfriend.” Takeharu stood up from the bar. “I’ll go make sure she’s okay.”

“Should I go with and apologize?” Yuuji bit his lip.

“Bud, she doesn’t want you right now,” Kazuma sighed, patting Yuuji on the shoulder. “Let Takeharu handle it. He’s almost as good at the sweet talking as you are.”

Yuuji stood up, stumbling just slightly and shooting a betrayed glare at the few empty glasses he’d left on the counter. “I’ll do better next time... I’ll... at least remember people’s names.”

“Yeah, good luck, dude.” Kazuma clapped Yuuji on the shoulder as they walked outside the bar into the chilly evening. “I’ll catch ya later. If you get lonely tonight, just remember, it's your own fault.”

Yuuji waved and separated from his friend, scuffing his shoe against the ground. He took the scenic route back toward his house, passing by the tall clock tower in the middle of the city and spinning around light poles. He almost wanted to feel bad about Hana but he couldn’t make himself. It wasn’t like similar situations had never happened before.

He’d barely walked in the door when his phone jingled from his pocket with a call from Takeharu.

“Yo,” Yuuji answered, flopping down on the nearest couch.

“She’s the one who lives on the northeast border of town, right? Do you remember her address? I lost her somewhere along the way, but I do want to make sure she’s okay.”

“You’re one hell of a wingman,” Yuuji said, smiling. He stood up and moved toward his kitchen, fumbling around in a cabinet for a bottle of nice wine he could use as a gift. “Where are you? I’ll come meet you. I want to go talk to Hana. I owe her a major apology.”

“Can I send you my location? I’m definitely not lost in my own city or anything but, uh...”

Yuuji laughed. “Too much to drink?”

“Not as much as you!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Yuuji could still feel the buzzing energy warming him up on the inside from the night at the bar. “Send me your location and we’ll get you un-lost. But you owe me.”

“I don’t owe you a damn thing!” Takeharu laughed. “I’ll see you soon, bro!”

Yuuji hummed a tune he couldn’t place and stuffed the bottle into the pocket of his heaviest coat. As the evening had grown darker, the temperature had dropped as well and he wasn’t sure if he’d be walking back home by himself or not. That depended mostly on how well his charm was working tonight, but if the bar scene had been any indicator, he wasn’t on much of a streak.

He squinted at his phone and the blip that showed where Takeharu’s location was. He was outside of town completely. Yuuji thought his best friend could handle his alcohol better than that, but apparently not if he was that lost.

Yuuji minded the cold a little less when fat snowflakes started dropping from the gray clouds onto his head. He smiled and pulled a beanie over his blond hair and kept moving toward Takeharu’s supposed location. He couldn’t believe how far his friend had gotten in such a short period of time either.

 

Twenty minutes later, Yuuji was even more confused and verging on concern. He was in the woods. He wasn’t even in town anymore. He’d stepped across the city limits a while ago, but he was still headed in the right direction to find Takeharu. Trees surrounded his path, bare and scraggly, but beautiful that way, Yuuji supposed. It was peaceful, being out here alone with no life to be seen around him. When Yuuji reached the edge of the forest, he froze in place, his mouth slightly agape.

It was beautiful, in the same, deadening way that the barren forest had been. Before him, the snow-covered ground merged with the gray sky. Not another tree stuck out of the earth; it was just flat. Flat and white and neverending in any direction. It was breathtaking, Yuuji noted, smiling to himself and collapsing into the untouched white powder to make a snow angel.

Remembering quickly that he had a mission, Yuuji stood back up and brushed himself back off. When he squinted, he found that the snowy expanse wasn’t actually limitless; just in the distance, he could see the outline of something big, obscured by the swirling storm.

Yuuji pulled his phone back out of his pocket, clumsy with cold fingers, redialing Takeharu’s number. It went to voicemail.

“Uh, hey dude,” Yuuji said hesitantly. “Did you make it to Hana’s place? I’m still following your location blippy thing, but it’s way outside of town. I think there’s a house or something up ahead. Did you go there for shelter? Call me back when you get this, okay? See you soon, bro.”

Chewing his bottom lip, Yuuji trudged toward the house-looking mass in the distance. He quickly realized that it was farther than he’d thought and a lot bigger than it had appeared. He didn’t leave the city limits that often, and he didn’t think he’d ever gone in this direction in all the time he’d lived in his current place. But surely, if there was a sixteenth-century castle out here, he thought he would’ve at least heard about it. It must not have been too stable though or there would be tourism or something, right?

It was anything but unstable, Yuuji saw as he approached. The property was large, tall, spires outlined in moonlight reaching high into the night sky. The walls were all gray brick overgrown with ivy and thick shadows. The windows were dark and a tall, black fence surrounded the entire area. Directly in front of Yuuji was the gate, iron twisted into intricate shapes and curls, and open, just slightly.

He took a few steps closer to the gate, finding footprints in the fresh snow along a stone walk that led up to the castle’s large, wooden front doors. If Takeharu had come here looking for shelter and the gate was open, did that mean he’d gone inside? Was the building usable after all? Yuuji wasn’t totally sure, but he slipped through the gate, excited to find out. This was exactly the kind of thrill he was looking for to get his mind off the tricky breakup he’d just been through.

Yuuji glanced at his phone once more as he stepped up to the doors. Unless something with the signal was very wrong, he was almost on top of Takeharu’s blip, which meant his friend was almost certainly just inside.

Taking a deep breath, Yuuji pushed the front door open easily. The foyer opened up immediately to a ceiling so high he could barely see it in the dark evening. Tall, winding staircases led outwards and a dozen doors pocked the walls, tempting him farther inside. He couldn’t believe a place like this was completely abandoned but still unlocked. What he really couldn’t believe was that he had practically stumbled into it by accident.

The storm still raging outside, Yuuji shut the doors and took a few more steps into the castle, hearing the echo of his footsteps resounding off the walls. “Hello?” he called loudly. “Takeharu, you in here?”

There was only one door that stood open, and Yuuji walked toward it hesitantly, keeping his head on a swivel. It wouldn’t do to be caught trespassing or anything, not with the night he was already having. Creepy gargoyles with sharp teeth and angry glares watched him from either side of the well-dressed hallway accompanied by portraits in elegant frames that seemed to ward him away. This castle must've been built in a creepy time period, Yuuji considered as he progressed on. The light from the windows wasn’t doing him any good anymore and he switched on his phone light to guide him. He followed the hall down a staircase until he found something that truly chilled him.

The lack of windows made the stairway pitch black aside from Yuuji's phone light and a few candles in alcoves in the walls. The gray stone of the castle’s exterior was the only decor in the small room, brightened only by a single candle on the shelf.

Four total cells lined the walls of the dungeon, but only the closest was occupied.

“Jeez! Takeharu, what happened!” Yuuji yelled, running up to the metal cell door and looking through the barred window at his friend.

Takeharu’s eyes were wide and he scrabbled and grabbed at the bars “Yuuji! Get out of here! You can’t be here right now; this place is dangerous!”

“What’s dangerous about it?” Yuuji asked, feeling a prickle travel up the back of his neck almost as soon as the words had left his mouth. He whirled around, catching something large passing through the shadows cast by candlelight.

“Hey, don’t hurt him!” Takeharu yelled from inside the cell, voice quivering. “You’ve already got me! It’s all a misunderstanding, okay? If you’re not going to let me go, then at least let Yuuji leave! He didn’t even come here by accident like I did; I led him here so it’s my fault! Let him leave!”

Yuuji’s heart was slamming in his chest as the large figure moved into a deeper shadow, closer to him. He backed up against Takeharu’s cell door and reached a hand into the pocket of his pants, flicking open the knife he always carried on him. “W-who’s there! What do you want!”

“Is this your friend?” came the low, rumble from the darkness.

Yuuji nodded. “Yeah? Why is he imprisoned here?”

“Because he trespassed on my property. So he’s mine now.”

“What are you going to do to him?” Yuuji took a step toward the shadow containing the tall figure, hoping to get a look at the offender to see if he could be fought.

“Wait for him to starve and die and rot.” The rumbling voice almost seemed pleased with itself. “Someone needs to teach him a lesson.”

“You need to let him go! It’s all a mistake! Takeharu didn’t mean to trespass and if we can just sit down and talk this out, I’m sure we can reach an agreement, right? Maybe... Maybe I could take his place?”

Only a rumbling laugh replied to Yuuji.

“Please!” Yuuji looked back at his friend, still looking helpless and hopeless from behind bars. “Let me take his place! It’s my fault he came out here anyway. He was chasing after a girl I offended and got lost. It’s really all my doing, okay? So maybe we can switch! I’ll be your prisoner, you let him go, no strings attached.”

“No strings attached? You seem clever, but that means I’m not sure I can trust you...”

“No strings!” Yuuji confirmed over the sound of Takeharu’s protests.

“Yuuji, please don’t trust him! It’s a mistake, just get out of here while you can!” Takeharu moaned.

Yuuji squinted at his friend’s captor. “Step into the light. I want to see your face before we make this deal.”

All at once, the figure from the shadows emerged, seeming to pull part of the shadow with him into the candlelight beam on the floor.

Yuuji gasped at what he saw. An animal, standing on powerful hind legs stood before him, hairy, muscular, fierce with flashing eyes and fangs that glinted dangerously. “Y-you’re! You’re not human!”

“Yeah, I’m a fucking monster,” the beast agreed, sounding proud of itself, shaking its head, fur quivering with the movement. “Does that change your thoughts on switching places with your little friend?”

Still awestruck, Yuuji looked up at the massive beast. It had to be at least four feet taller than him. He shook his head weakly in response. “Let Takeharu go please.”

Takeharu was yelling, but Yuuji paid him little mind, just stepped quickly out of the way as the beast tore the cell door open and pulled Takeharu out, shoving him back toward the dungeon entrance, silent and trembling.

Yuuji sank to his knees on the hard, cold floor, waiting for emotions to flood him, but feeling little other than the shock of everything going on around him. He was in an old castle with a sort-of-human beast and he’d just sold his life away in return for Takeharu’s. He didn’t regret his choice in the slightest, but it didn’t mean he wasn’t terrified.

When the heavy footsteps returned to the dungeon, Yuuji braced himself for the worst, ready to be immediately thrown into one of the cells to live out the rest of his meaningless days there.

Instead, the low rumbling voice spoke again. “Come on. Let me show you to your room.”

Yuuji looked up, only catching sight of the beast’s back, mostly covered by a long, black cloak. “Room? I thought you were going to lock me in here?”

The beast huffed loudly, not bothering to turn. “You want to stay down here? Be my guest.”


	2. Something There That Wasn't There Before

The tense silence between them echoed louder in the long, tall corridors than their footsteps. Yuuji had never been so scared in his life, but it couldn’t distract him fully from the incredible architecture around him. Pillars held up the arches of the ceiling in the true gothic style of the castle. Paintings taller than Yuuji adorned the walls. Covering the white marble tile floor was a rich, red, lush carpet, dirty and spotted with large paw prints that Yuuji quickly matched with the hairy feet of the beast leading him through the sprawling castle.

He had a hundred questions to ask and he started with— “Uh, is that candle thingy following us?”

The beast turned, a deep scowl across his face, sharp teeth holding back a low growl “I told you to fucking keep out of sight, Satori.”

A candlestick waddled out from around a corner, grinning. He looked back, beckoning a small clock to follow him, a bit more reluctantly. “Taichi, keep up, ya doof!”

The clock looked slightly annoyed but approached Yuuji as well.

“Are these your friends?” Yuuji asked, smirking and kneeling down to greet the living furniture.

“Friends is a loose term,” the beast growled.

“We’re here to make sure he doesn’t destroy the place or anything!” Satori chirped happily.

Taichi rolled his eyes as best she could as a clock. “I mean, technically, we’re supposed to be helping with the curse and—”

“I told you not to talk about that!” Snarling, the beast took a large step toward the small home accent pieces, making Yuuji jump even though he wasn’t the target.

“Ignore the furniture, it’s all full of shit talk,” the monster growled to Yuuji, continuing along the corridor.

“Oookay...” Yuuji eyed the candlestick and the clock still following behind him. Slowly but surely, he was getting used to the enchanted nature of things in this castle. Next to the animated appliances, the large, furry beast didn’t even seem all that out of place. It didn’t make him much less scary though. “So if I get to stay in a room, does that mean I’m not a prisoner anymore?”

“You’re not allowed to leave. You still belong to me.”

“Alright... What’s your name then?”

“I don’t have a name. Call me beast. That’s all I am anymore.”

“He’s just being moody,” the candlestick hopped next to Yuuji. “His name’s Kenjirou.”

Yuuji smirked at the glare the monster shot over his shoulder. “Kenjirou’s a pretty cute name for a big old beast.”

“Doesn’t matter.” The beast stopped walking in front of another tall wooden door. “Here’s your room. I’ll see you for dinner.”

Without another word, the monster slunk down the hall, not sparing a glance at Yuuji.

“Uh, do I just...” Yuuji looked down at the small talking decorations.

“Go on inside,” the small clock sighed. “Get used to it.”

Yuuji bit his lip and pushed the door open. The room was large and the ceiling high. A canopy poster bed filled the middle of the room, wood posts ornate with swirling designs and nice fabric covered with woven designs. More portraits hung on the walls and statues rested on pedestals.

“I-it’s very nice,” Yuuji said, stepping inside slowly, looking around the room. “Definitely better than the dungeon, right?”

A footstool by a chair in the corner bounced to life and ran over to Yuuji. “Woah! It’s true! There’s someone here now!”

The candlestick laughed. “Hayato, did you sneak in here just to see him?”

“Well, duh! It’s been ages since there’s been anyone in here! As soon as I heard the rumor, I wanted to meet you! You seem really cool, too! Like, way cooler than I’d expect from someone Kenjirou wants to keep around.”

Yuuji grinned. “Thanks! Who’d you hear the rumor from? I  _ just _ got here.”

“I saw you first when you came inside!” came another new voice.

Yuuji looked over to see a teapot and matching cup on a tray. The cup bounced toward him.

“Good job keeping watch for cool visitors, Tsutomu!” Satori chimed in.

“We really do hope you enjoy your stay here,” the teapot said, smiling. “I’m Reon. I think you’ve met most of the others. The feather duster over there is Wakatoshi. The wardrobe is Eita.”

Satori was laughing. “It’s funny because Eita’s fashion sense is  _ awful _ . And he’s a  _ wardrobe _ ! Get it?”

“My fashion is fine!” the wardrobe snapped.

“Eita’s clothing choices aren’t much worse than yours,” Wakatoshi helped.

Yuuji didn’t want to ask how a wardrobe wore clothes, good or bad. He just smiled at the others. “So all of you are friends with the beast?”

“Yeah, more or less,” Reon supplied. “Do you want any tea?”

“I’ll pass for now. How did you all end up together?”

Wakatoshi fluttered over a dusty table. “Kenjirou is the heir to the throne. We’ve worked in the castle for a long time for him.”

“An heir, huh? But he’s a... thing.”

Reon smiled sadly. “Give him a chance, he’s not what he looks like really. He’s just...”

“Angry!” Tsutomu shuddered.

“Moody.” Satori shrugged.

“Stubborn,” Taichi deadpanned.

“Cursed,” Wakatoshi answered.

“Cursed?” Yuuji sat on the edge of the bed, looking around the ragtag group. “What’s that mean?”

Eita looked hesitant. “He... doesn’t want us talking about it. But maybe he’d tell you if you asked!”

“Why would he tell me?” Yuuji kicked his feet over the ornate rug. “He doesn’t really seem the type to share that kind of thing with someone he just met.”

“He... can be a little cold,” Hayato agreed. “But he let you stay in the castle! We can never quite tell what’s going on in his head but he’s thinking something about you if you’re a guest in here!”

“You mean he likes me?”

Tsutomu looked excited. “He’s in a tough situation and he’s a little desperate, but he’s picky so if he’s letting you in, he probably at least thinks you’re friendly!”

“What does he want from me?”

Satori ushered the small teacup toward the door. “Uhh... he can tell you about that at dinner. We need to go work on that, but you should get dressed! We’ll see you a little bit later?”

“Okay then.” Yuuji watched his new friends leave, all but the footstool and the wardrobe that stood against the wall.

“Any preferences on what you want to wear?” the wardrobe spoke.

“What do you have?” Yuuji inspected the talking armoire.

The doors opened, revealing a row of outfits on a rack of hangers, ranging in color and formality. “Something nice, but not like we’re trying to push this,” the wardrobe muttered. “Even though we kinda are. How’s this?”

Yuuji was thrown a hanger containing clothes unlike anything he’d ever seen before in real life. He thought the style looked familiar as something out of a history book.

“What is this?” he blurted. “It’s so... sixteenth-century.”

The wardrobe laughed. “Have you seen this castle? Have you seen what Kenjirou wears? You kinda are in the sixteenth century right now. It’s not super important, but time works a little differently here. Kenjirou can tell you about it later. Just put the clothes on, okay?”

Throwing caution to the wind, Yuuji slipped into the dated suit: black pants, a white shirt with a frilled collar, and a red jacket with way too many gold buttons. Looking at himself in the mirror, Yuuji whistled. “It’s still nicer than anything I own myself, that’s for sure. How do I look?”

“Like a million bucks,” Eita said, sounding satisfied.

“This is pretty cool,” Yuuji admitted. “I don’t do much in the realm of dinner parties or anything so this is an exciting experience!”

“Hey,” the footstool grabbed Yuuji’s attention again. “You’re a little weird; what’s your story? People who end up here don’t usually take it quietly. They try to escape or fight or something, but you’re just rolling with it.”

Yuuji shrugged. “I’m pretty good at rolling with it. That and living in a castle is a cool opportunity I wouldn’t want to pass up! That and... back outside, I’ve got a girl named Hana I need to apologize to, hardcore.” He grabbed the coat he’d discarded on the bed and found the bottle of wine in the pocket, impressed the glass wasn’t cracked and that he hadn’t lost it. “I was going to give this to her, but I was dreading it anyway. Getting captured by a giant beast and locked in a castle is a pretty good excuse not to go apologize to a girl, right?”

“A girl, right.” Hayato nodded dejectedly. “What were you apologizing for?”

“Being a colossal dingus,” Yuuji laughed. “We dated for months and I couldn’t remember her name for most of it. She wasn’t too fond of the fact I’m seeing like five other people at the same time too.”

“Six women at once?” Eita whistled. “Damn.”

“Not all women.” Yuuji shook his head. “Some dudes. It’s all the same to me, really.”

The footstool and the wardrobe seemed to perk up at that.

“You should probably go downstairs,” Eita suggested, motioning Yuuji to the door. “Stay cool, enjoy dinner.”

Yuuji was a little baffled by the abrupt end to the conversation, but he made his way out of the room quickly. The urge to explore the castle on his own was tempting, but he was pretty hungry after missing out on food after leaving the bar and the living clock quickly joined him and guided him down to where he needed to be.

The lavish dining room was as grand as Yuuji was expecting. A fireplace took up a good portion of one wall, the crackling and flickering setting a warm and welcoming atmosphere in the room. The large, wooden table stood in the center of the floor, heaped with plates of food that looked like they had jumped out of the culinary magazines Yuuji loved to look at. The candles in the chandelier were too numerous to count and the ornate decorations on the table and the fireplace mantle were arranged so perfectly that Yuuji could tell this place required a lot of upkeep. The table was set perfectly, two shining, silver plates and sparkling glasses at either end of the long table. 

The only thing that didn’t match the gilded, formal setting was Yuuji’s host, already seated in a large wooden chair at the far end of the table, glaring at him through slitted eyes.

Yuuji smiled and placed himself in his own chair, wondering if it would be polite to immediately dig into the festive array of dishes before him.

He quickly saw that manners didn’t count for much at this table. The beast on the other end sunk a paw into a roasted bird of some sort, tearing the flesh apart and splattering grease on the tablecloth. He gobbled it messily for only a few seconds, before putting it back on the plate and reaching for something else, growling disgusted remarks at the bird and glaring at the dishes, taking lone bites of some items, avoiding others altogether and digging into others.

Yuuji snagged a roll and some fruit off the platters quickly before they too would get ruined, but found he didn’t have much of an appetite anymore, watching the beast tear food apart and leave it smashed and dismembered across the table.

The large creature, still too big for his massive chair that Yuuji practically disappeared into, looked up. “The fuck are you staring at?”

“Nothing at all,” Yuuji replied quickly, taking a bite of his food. “Just eating dinner, same as you... It’s pretty fancy in here, yeah?”

“Yeah, whatever,” the beast snarled.

“Seems like a wine kind of meal, don’t you think?” Yuuji suggested, tapping his glass full of water with his fork.

The beast’s eyes narrowed.

“Not that it needs to be!” Yuuji cut in. “It just seems like your cooks or whatever—”

“I don’t drink,” the beast growled.

“Really.” Yuuji chewed thoughtfully on his dinner roll, trying not to look at the carnage on the beast’s side of the table or the mess dripping off the furry face across from him. “You seem like the type who could handle your alcohol. Guess I’m wrong again about you. That’s fine.”

“I probably could,” the beast shot back. “I choose not to drink. I’m not of age.”

Yuuji raised one eyebrow and tried to keep the smile off his face. The beast, so tall and menacing and violently impolite, followed the law. “You’re a kid?”

“No, I’m an adult. But I’m not of drinking age. And I choose not to break that law. You have a problem with that?”

“Not at all,” Yuuji said, running a hand through his hair. “I’ve got a bottle upstairs though with me if you ever feel like—”

“There’s plenty of fucking wine in this God-forsaken castle!” the beast roared, shoving a platter of roasted vegetables onto the floor with a crash and standing up to look at Yuuji more directly. “What part of ‘I choose not to drink’ do you not understand!?”

“You’re good, you’re good!” Yuuji sunk into his chair, holding his hands out in front of him in surrender. “Not gonna ask you to drink. I see you live by some... very individualistic rules here.”

“Are you judging me?” the beast huffed. “I do things here however the hell I want to!”

“I get it! It’s fine!” Yuuji thought his voice may have cracked. “Nice of your servant dudes to do all this for you though, just so you can throw food on the floor and stuff. Must be weird working for a kid who’s ten feet tall and can’t hold a fork.”

With a loud roar from the beast, Yuuji scrambled to his feet, eyeing the exit and realizing that good-natured jokes weren’t helping him much in this situation.

“Get out!” the beast yelled, pointing at the door. “Don’t fucking talk to me if you’re going to be rude. I’ll kill you before I take any more of your damn insults!”

Yuuji didn’t need any more encouragement to leave the dining room. He didn’t release the breath he was holding until the door had completely shut behind him.

“Well, that went about as well as I had expected,” came the voice of the small clock, standing on a table in the hallways next to the candlestick.

“So that’s Kenjirou,” the candle giggled. “Have a good time?”

“He’s interesting,” Yuuji said, nodding. “I can see what you were saying about the temper though. Probably my fault he got angry.”

“You did fine. It was actually a little exciting to see someone put him in his place!” Satori jumped in place as best he could as a candle. “Just give him another chance, okay? He’ll warm up to you and he won’t be so quick to anger.”

Yuuji shrugged and took a few steps away from the dining room, hearing faint crashing sounds from within. “Is he okay?”

“He will be. He’s just gonna break everything and leave it to us to clean up his mess as usual.” The clock winced when a loud thud like the entire table being flipped resonated out of the dining room. “You might want to go back up to your room. He’s not going to be easy to calm down tonight, but give him another shot in the morning.”

Yuuji nodded silently and walked away from the crashing noises and smells of food. Almost as soon as he turned a corner in the castle, he found himself wishing he’d brought one of the talking accessories with him as suddenly he wasn’t so sure he knew how to get back to his room.

He tried to remember the portraits he’d passed on his way down, turning left, pretty sure he’d seen that one of the boat before. However, it didn’t take long for Yuuji to realize he was going in circles and he had no idea where in the expansive castle he had ended up. On a whim, he took a right turn and found himself at the bottom of a winding staircase. This didn’t look familiar either, but he figured there were probably multiple paths to get anywhere in such a big castle so he mounted it and started climbing.

The staircase climbed on and on and Yuuji thought many times about turning back, before arguing with himself that the top must be soon if he’d gone so far already. Finally, after several more minutes, Yuuji reached level floor again.

This part of the castle wasn’t nearly as ornately decorated as the lower levels that he was more familiar with. At one point in time, it may have been, Yuuji thought, looking at the trash piled on either side of the hall. Torn portraits in broken frames leaned against the wall and busted statues watched over ripped carpeting. Yuuji’s first instinct was to turn back. This definitely wasn’t the way back to his room. But a spark of curiosity prompted him onward. At the end of the hall, a massive set of wooden doors stood slightly ajar, the smallest hint of wind whistling through.

Yuuji marched onward, pushing his way through the doors. All at once, the cold hit him hard. On the far side of the room, glass balcony doors hung open, frosted with ice from the storm that continued to blow outside. Yuuji rushed forward to try and close the doors, looking around the room as he went, this place looking even more trashed than the hallway leading here.

A bed lay in the center of the room, the wooden frame snapped in half and stuffing from the mattress spilling out onto the wood floor. The bedding, piles of blankets, lay in a crumpled heap nearby, creating another mattress of sorts. The biggest painting Yuuji had seen so far in the entire castle hung crookedly on the wall, the canvas ripped to shreds by claws and stabbed by blades taken from metal armor statues around the room. It chilled Yuuji and he backed away from it slowly, observing the rest of the room now as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

Something closer to the balcony doors caught his eye and he made his way over, remembering his first objective to seal off the cold. On a small table, a glass box held a single rose. A few of the petals lay on the wood tabletop and the flower looked like it had reached the end of its time in the world. It matched the mood of the rest of the room, Yuuji figured, dreary and almost ominous.

At that moment, the door to the room slammed open and Yuuji jumped back, finding himself eyeing down the beast again.

The massive monster’s eyes were narrowed and it took a loud step toward Yuuji. “Don’t. You. Dare. Touch that.”

“I-I wasn’t going to,” Yuuji promised, taking a hesitant step back. “I was just looking around! This room has kind of a cool aesthetic to it, y’know?”

The beast lumbered forward, not taking his eyes off Yuuji. “Stop moving around. You’re going to break something!”

“You’ve done a pretty good job of that yourself, don’t you think?” Yuuji smirked, reaching out to pat a dusty armor mannequin with no head. With a creaking sound, the stand shifted and the arm holding a large scythe snapped off.

Yuuji gasped, stumbling backward and tripping over what must’ve been the misplaced helmet. He landed hard on the floor and covered his face with his hands, catching only a glimpse as metal flashed and the medieval weapon fell toward him.

Bracing for the impact or praying for a near miss, Yuuji didn’t open his eyes until the pain he was expecting was replaced by a loud roar. He looked straight up. The beast towered over him, eyes shut and mouth parted. The scythe stuck out of his arm, looking like barely a sliver in the giant’s meaty wrist.

“Woah!” Yuuji shouted. “You saved me!”

The beast swore. “Help me!”

Yuuji rushed to get back to his feet and pull the blade away and toss it to the floor. “Are you okay? You’re bleeding.”

“I don’t like blood,” the beast snarled, leaving his eyes slammed shut. “This is your fucking fault!”

“I’m sorry!” Yuuji yelled, keeping his distance but biting his lip. He thought he might’ve been imagining the pain on the creature’s face, so twisted up in a frown as it usually was. But when a soft whimper escaped his dark lips, Yuuji saw just for a split second, the beast not as what it was, but as someone a little more like him, scared, betrayed, not even old enough to legally drink.

Yuuji snatched one of the blankets off the floor and grabbed the beast’s arm to wrap it hastily. He was surprised instantly at how coarse and rough the fur along the forearm was and he almost regretted touching his captor.

“Come with me,” Yuuji urged. “I can help you clean it up if we go downstairs and find water and real supplies.

One eye open just a crack, the beast nodded and took a shaky step.

Yuuji guided him back to the door, shutting it fully to keep the cold air out of the rest of the castle before following the beast’s lead down toward the kitchen.

Some of the friends Yuuji had made earlier were there, cleaning up the mess made of dinner and they watched with worry as Yuuji led the beast to a large sink and unwrapped the makeshift bandage, releasing the flow of blood from the gash to soak into the coarse fur and drip onto the floor and the counter.

“Um, I’m not great at first aid or anything,” Yuuji warned, grabbing a towel and soaking it in warm water before applying it to the wound.

The beast winced and drew away from it, but Yuuji held on, holding the cloth over the cut until the blood stopped. Sending the feather duster he’d met in the bedroom to fetch bandages, Yuuji cleaned the excess blood from the beast’s fur, careful and thorough under the watchful, glaring eyes, deciding that the risk he ran by not doing a good job was greater than the risk from being so close to the monster.

Within a half hour, the wound had been completely cleaned and Yuuji stood back to watch the beast’s face for signs of approval or signs that he needed to start running.

The monster’s eyes blinked at his bandaged arm, but he didn’t look like he was in pain anymore. “Thanks.”

Yuuji choked on his tongue, surprised at the lack of growl in the creature’s voice. “Uh, yeah. No problem. Thanks for saving me up there. Sorry for touching your stuff and getting you hurt.”

The beast’s gaze turned stony again. “Don’t ever go up there again. There’s stuff you don’t need to touch or see or even think about in there.”

Yuuji hopped to sit on the counter. “Like that rose? I’m no gardener, but I have a feeling that you might be able to keep flowers alive longer if you shut the balcony doors and didn’t let the cold air in.”

“That’s not what’s killing the rose,” the beast grumbled, looking away. “Don’t worry about it.”

“And aren’t there comfier beds in this place that aren’t, y’know, broken?”

“Don’t worry about it,” the beast repeated firmly.

“Okay, okay, my bad. You don’t have to get all defensive.” Yuuji looked around. “You sure you don’t drink? No offense, but you look like you could use a glass. How underage are you anyway?”

“I’m a couple days from twenty-one,” the beast said quietly.

“Oh! You’re practically legal, what the heck are you moping around here for!”

“It’s not that simple! Get out of here! I don’t want to talk to you anymore!”

Yuuji slid off the counter hurriedly and moved quickly back toward the door. He looked over the beast again, surveying his hurt arm and the even more wounded expression on his face. “Hey. Are you sure you’re okay?”

Something in the monster’s eyes shifted as he nodded at Yuuji and asked him again to leave, a little calmer this time. The expression cemented itself into Yuuji’s brain as he left the kitchen and made his way toward his room with more success. He couldn’t quite pinpoint what was odd about the look the beast had given him but it was something that wasn’t there before.

 


	3. Tale as Old as Time

 

That night, Yuuji dreamed of back home, what Takeharu and Kazuma might’ve been doing, if Hana was thinking about him, and if she was still upset. A tall, black gate separated Yuuji from the world he thought he knew, but he found he wasn’t as scared as he thought he’d be as he stood on the other side of the fence from his friends. They called to him, but he couldn’t make himself move toward them. Behind him lay the castle and he rushed inside to escape the cold and the frantic cries of his friends to rejoin them.

The sun was streaming in when Yuuji’s eyes shot open again and he sat up quickly.

“Morning! Want any tea?”

Yuuji smiled at the small teacup sitting on the nightstand, full of steaming liquid. “Sure,” he accepted, running his other hand through his hair, wild from a night of tossing and turning in the lush blankets.

“There’s breakfast downstairs,” the teapot told him calmly, smiling faintly.

Yuuji expressed his gratitude and stood up, barely even remembering the evening after he’d left the beast. Somehow, he’d ended up in warm pajamas in the comfortable bed that was really hard to get out of.

The wardrobe handed him something new to put on. Again, it was on the dressy side and definitely not from the modern time period. He found he didn’t mind the baggy shirt sleeves or the fitted lavender vest he wore over the top of it. The strange knee-length pants over white leggings felt odd, but Yuuji couldn’t deny that he looked like he’d just stepped out of a sixteenth-century fashion magazine. He knew the way to the dining room from his room, but he was led to a lounge instead with soft couches and a brilliant view out four-story tall windows onto a courtyard covered with fresh snow, glittering in the new sunlight.

Pastries and juice were brought out to Yuuji and he tucked in eagerly.

“Hey, how are you this morning!” the candlestick jumped onto a coffee table and looked at him excitedly.

“Hi, I’m okay,” Yuuji answered. “Kinda jumbled up inside. I don’t know what to do about the people I left behind. I don’t want them to be worried about me. I’m safe here, right?”

“I’d say you’re more than just safe,” Satori smirked. “ _ Somebody _ couldn’t stop talking about you last night.”

Yuuji blushed and looked intently at his juice. “Really? Wait, are you trying to hook us up? I don’t have a whole lot of boundaries but, uh, he’s not exactly human. I might have to draw the line there.”

“Relax, relax,” the candle shushed him. “It’s not like that at all. Just stay true to who you are, okay? That’s a minor minor minor detail in the grand scheme of things, really. I promise it wouldn’t get in the way if you two did decide you liked each other.”

“Well, I think I do,” Yuuji said truthfully, smiling at his breakfast. “He’s a little odd, but he’s funny and sweet under all the fur and yelling. I think if nothing else mattered, I’d say I loved him.”

“You said it!”

Yuuji almost fell out of the chair but righted himself to look at the entryway to the lounge behind him. “K-Kenjirou!”

The beast’s eyes were wide and his gaze shifted from Yuuji to Satori to himself several times.

Yuuji watched silently, releasing a held-in breath after a moment. “What are you looking at?”

The large monster shook slightly. “I don’t get it!” he roared, shaking the entire room. “He said it! He said he loves me and I love him too but it’s not working!”

“What’s not working?” Yuuji took a step away from the enraged monster, nervous again, partially from the casual rumbling confession he’d just gotten in response to his own.

“Why isn’t it working!?” the beast yelled, staring at his hands. “I still have time! I’m not twenty-one for days still and the curse should be broken!”

Yuuji looked at the candle beside him with wide eyes. “What’s he talking about?”

Satori looked upset. “I... I don’t know why it isn’t working either... Kenjirou, no, no, no, I’m sorry, I thought this would work!”

The beast roared again and lashed out, tearing a painting off the wall of the lounge and splintering the wood frame on the floor.

Yuuji found himself rushing forward to grab at the monster’s flailing arm. “Stop! It’s okay! You don’t have to break stuff! Talk it out, I’m listening if you need me!

The beast halted its assault on the wall at once and looked down at Yuuji. He was still for a moment before he shook Yuuji off, sending him sprawling to the ground.

When Yuuji regained his senses, the beast had left the lounge in a rush, lumbering away down a dark hallway untouched by the morning sunlight.

Satori was saying something quickly to Yuuji, but Yuuji held out a hand to quiet him. Heart still racing a little bit, Yuuji took off down the hallway after the beast. Claw marks dragged down the walls and Yuuji could hear the scraping sounds of more being made ahead of him. Part of a corner had been completely knocked away, leaving chipped paint and crumbled rocks to spill across the carpet.

Yuuji was terrified and he didn’t know why he was still following the sounds of the beast ahead of him. He’d seen what this rage could do and he hardly wanted to put himself in its path. But he couldn’t let go of the other side he’d seen of the beast. He remembered in the frigid tower room, the expression the beast had given him like a scared child, and the last nod before Yuuji had left him for the night, a look of acceptance and maybe even some hope in his eyes. Maybe the enormous monster was fueled by rage right now, but Yuuji wanted to save the parts that were still kind and he wouldn’t let anything get in his way.

“Hey!” Yuuji yelled when he finally caught up.

The beast was tearing plants up from their roots in a conservatory but looked up at Yuuji’s entrance.

“What the fuck do you want?” The low growl sent shivers down Yuuji’s spine like the first time he’d heard it the previous night.

“Just to talk,” Yuuji said, stepping into the room cautiously. “Are you okay?”

“No.”

“Does your arm still hurt from last night?”

“Not really. I just want to be left alone.”

Yuuji leaned against the wall and watched the expression on the beast’s face shrink from its former malice to a more reserved disappointment. “I don’t think you do. I think you need a friend right about now to listen to you.”

“You think of me as a friend?” The monster’s nostrils flared angrily and he turned on Yuuji. “You said ‘love’. Don’t say things you don’t fucking mean! You lied to me!”

“I didn’t lie! It’s the truth; I love you. Even if you’re not human, I can’t really help myself. You’re funny and kinda cute, even with all the fur and the quirkiness and the anger. You... just seem like someone I want...”

“Then why didn’t the spell break?” the beast asked wearily. “I’m tired of being like this. I just... I learned my lesson, okay? I want to be me again.”

Yuuji approached slowly. “I’m not exactly sure what all that means, but you could help me and I’ll try to understand what you’re going through.”

“A curse,” the beast snapped. “I was placed under a curse. If I can’t find love by my twenty-first birthday, I’m going to be stuck this way forever. But nobody loves an angry, impulsive, hairy son of a bitch like me. I thought maybe there was hope, just for a second, but you’re just a liar, trying to get on my good side so maybe I’ll let you go.”

“That’s not true,” Yuuji assured. “I do care about you. It feels weird, but I really do. I... don’t know how to help you though. I’m not, like, experienced with curses or anything so I don’t know what I can do for you. I didn’t lie though when I said I loved you. Do you believe me?”

The beast nodded. “I wasn’t lying either. I feel different about you than anyone I’ve met before. I don’t really know what to do with it though. That’s the problem. I have no idea what I’m doing and it’s my fault the curse is all fucked up and I’m going to be this way forever!”

Yuuji nodded slowly. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what’s wrong. Does it help to know that curse or no curse, I care about you?”

“Kinda. Not really.”

“Do you think by ‘love’ it means...intimacy?”

“No. It would be impossible for me to have someone like that. A human anyway. You’re all too... little.”

Yuuji thought the beast might have been blushing under all the hair. He thought he might’ve been blushing too, just thinking about it. “Yeah, I agree. If you think of something else that might be the key, just tell me, even... Even if it is that. I’ll help you however I can at a moment’s notice.”

The beast looked hesitant, meek almost, similar to when he’d been cut by the scythe upstairs. “You... You don’t need to stay here. If the curse is fucked up, the curse is fucked up and that’s not your fault. I don’t know what else to do so... you’re released. You’re not a prisoner here anymore.”

“I’m not?” Yuuji whispered, looking out the window. It hadn’t even been that long since he’d gotten here, but the freedom was practically a tangible weight lifting off his shoulders. But it was immediately replaced by the responsibilities he’d have back in town when he returned to his friends, lovers, and ex-lovers. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why don’t you keep me here anyway? You only have a couple days left until your birthday and I’m guessing I’m the closest you’ve ever gotten to this love you apparently need to find. Try things, I don’t know! Don’t just accept your fate and let me go!”

“It doesn’t mean sex! I wouldn’t do that to you anyway. I’m not going to hurt you. That’s why I’m letting you go, so just go!”

“It’d be worth it if it would help you!” Yuuji yelled back, getting to his feet. “I’m not leaving you until you figure out how to break your curse!”

“Where are you going then?” The beast asked, watching Yuuji head back to the doors of the conservatory.

“To my room to think,” Yuuji answered quietly. “Come get me if you need me for anything.”

The thoughts wouldn’t leave Yuuji’s head once he got there, even when he wanted them to. He was lost in strange love he hadn’t felt much of before. He loved someone he couldn’t have and he’d finally found a problem he couldn’t fix in bed.

The beast had looked utterly repulsed by the idea and he’d sounded firm in his argument that sex wasn’t the answer to the love problem. Yuuji trusted his new companion enough to understand the terms and conditions of his own curse. Still, even if he couldn’t do any more to help the beast, Yuuji wasn’t going to leave unless he was asked. He felt strangely at home here in the big, dark castle and the wine bottle on the floor next to his bed just reminded him of the responsibilities he had at home.

From the bedside table, Yuuji’s phone started jingling with a phone call. He snatched it quickly and answered.

“Oh, holy fuck, you have to be kidding me right now,” Kazuma spat. “Where are you!? I’ve been trying to call you forever! Takeharu showed up at my place last night and said that you had been imprisoned in the castle by a beast? He’s still asleep on my couch but he didn’t have  _ that _ much to drink last night so I don’t know what he’s talking about and—”

“Dude, shut up and listen to me, okay? It’s true what he said, but I’m not a prisoner here! Not anymore, at least.”

“Why haven’t you left then? Did you ever track down Hana last night?”

“Uh, not yet. And I’m... kinda okay with being here? Not that I’m avoiding my problems or anything.”

“Excuse me, what about the beast!? You’re just chilling with a beast?”

“Pretty much... It’s not like you think. He’s not just an animal. He’s a person, and kinda cool. And he needs help and I think I might be able to do something for him.”

Kazuma sighed. “Yuuji, do you have to be such an altruist all the time? You’re not scared that he’s going to wait until you drop your guard and then eat you or something?”

“He’s really not like that! I promise I know what I’m doing, okay? I’ll be back soon. I only have a couple days to help him and I’m going to do my best. I’ll see you after that, I guess.”

“What about Hana?”

“She knew my reputation when she started dating me. I’ll apologize to her when I have the time. I have to go, Kazuma. I’ll talk to you later!”

“Yuuji, wait—”

Sighing, Yuuji hung up the call and let his phone drop out of his hands onto the mattress. He stood up quickly from the bed and moved quietly out into the hall again.

The beast hadn’t moved from his spot on the floor of the conservatory where he stared out at the blue sky and the sun that had risen a good distance in the mid-morning.

“Uh, hi,” Yuuji started from the doorway. “Are you okay?”

The beast looked over, scoffing. “I thought you were going to your room to think or get off or something.”

“I did a bit of thinking, I guess,” Yuuji said. “I said some things out loud that made things a little clearer in my head. So I’m back.”

“What do you want?”

“Just to hang out, really. Curse or no curse, beast or not beast, I care about you. And I want to spend time getting to know you. And that’s something I don’t do with anyone, not that you know my habits with other people or anything... And heck, maybe it would help with the curse too, you know? We’ve only known each other one day. It’s a little hasty to be making love declarations. Maybe if we spend some time really getting to know one another, the answer will be a little clearer.”

The beast stood up. “What do you want to do?”

Yuuji shrugged. “Want to take a walk outside? Or you could show me some more places around the castle. I pretty much only know where the kitchen is in relation to my room for sure and I know there are a whole lot of other rooms I haven’t even seen yet. What do you say?”

Pausing for a moment, the beast finally stood up, towering over Yuuji. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to show you around.”

Yuuji grinned and fell into step beside his new companion. “You’re okay with me sticking around, right?”

“Yeah,” the beast grumbled reluctantly. “You’re loud and obnoxious and dumb, but you’re fine.”

“Why thank you,” Yuuji said proudly. “I do try for that. You’re not the most savory character yourself, are you.”

“Not particularly. You don’t have to stay here just because you feel bad for me though.”

“Hey.” Yuuji patted the beast’s arm just inside a new lounge area they’d reached along the tour. “I speak only the truth. I like you. I want to get to know you. Are you okay with that?”

“Yes.”

The beast fell quiet and Yuuji watched his expression silently for a bit. The tour around the castle was long but worth every second. Yuuji saw an expansive library, several kitchens, a ballroom, plenty of bedrooms and servant’s quarters, studies, lounges, and courtyards.

Dinner came far too quickly, even though they hadn’t ever paused long enough for lunch. The beast hadn’t said a whole lot since their morning conversation and dinner was spent in much the same silence, the tall creature devouring food messily while Yuuji munched on what he could stomach with the carnage going on across the table from him.

Yuuji led his new friend into his favorite of the lounges and sat down in a chair in front of a roaring fireplace. The beast looked at him skeptically when he patted the cushion with a smile.

“There’s definitely not room for both of us on there...”

“I’m kidding!” Yuuji laughed. “Pull up another chair!”

“What for?” The beast asked, obeying anyway.

Yuuji shrugged. “I want to talk to you.”

“About what?”

“Can I ask a question?”

“Sure. I can’t promise you’ll get an answer.”

“That’s okay. This castle. I’ve never seen it or heard of it before, but it’s barely on the outskirts of my city. And I definitely didn’t know there was a beast occupying it. Why is that?”

The beast sighed. “It’s part of the enchantment of the curse, making it harder for me to break it. You can only find the castle if you’re looking for it. A lot of the time if people stumble upon it, it’s because they’re lost and looking for shelter so it appears to them. Admittedly, not a whole lot of people make it out of here to spread the news... Your friend was looking for that girl, but it was the searching that let him see the castle. You came looking for him so you could see it too.”

“That’s...” Yuuji couldn’t think of a good enough word. “Magic.”

“Yeah,” the beast scoffed. “Nothing logical turned me into this, that’s for fucking sure. Is that the only question you have? Because I’m not interested in sharing my life story with you.”

“That’s fine!” Yuuji said hastily. He had a hundred more questions, but he wasn’t going to push the shaky friendship he had with the creature. “We could just share little fun stories if you wanted!”

“What?”

“I dunno. It just seems like an after dinner thing to do, you know? Sit around the fire and tell stories.”

“I don’t have stories.”

“That’s okay; I’ve got  _ tons _ if you feel like listening to me!”

“Sure...” The beast got comfortable in his own seat, watching Yuuji quietly as he launched into a random tale about the fireplace at his parents’ house and how he’d almost fallen into it once as a child.

It wasn’t long before Yuuji was exhausted and the beast had picked up on it too.

“You... didn’t get a lot of sleep last night, did you. You should go to bed.”

Yuuji smiled weakly. “I’m keeping you company!”

“You don’t need to. I’ll be up late. Go to bed.”

“What do you do so late at night all by yourself?”

“Same things as I do all day when I’m by myself usually. Pace, think, look menacing, monster things.”

Yuuji laughed, dragging himself out of the chair. “Well, I hope you can get some sleep. I’ll see you in the morning?”

The beast nodded. “Yeah, see you then.”

Yuuji almost paused in the doorway, finding it an unusual experience to have professed his love for someone and to go to bed alone. He recovered quickly and left. As weird as it was, he found it all too easy to forget that Kenjirou wasn’t human. It was only in the brief moments when Yuuji looked up at him and saw the fur, the fangs, the animal look in his eyes that he remembered to keep his distance. Maybe it was fortunate there was a species barrier or an enchantment barrier or something standing between them or Yuuji wouldn’t be able to keep his hands off.

“It wouldn’t even be that big of a deal, right?” he hummed as he walked to his room. “It’s not wrong because we’re both consenting parties, right? That’s the only issue. He’s not an animal, he’s human on the inside. Come on, Yuuji, get a grip. He said he didn’t want that. Just because you don’t know about love outside a bedroom, doesn’t mean—”

“Already going crazy?”

Yuuji looked around and saw the small clock on a table against the wall. “Hello!”

“Hi,” Taichi said dryly. “You really like him, don’t you.”

“I think so.” Yuuji nodded. “I mean, love isn’t a hard emotion to get out of me, but yeah.”

“Whatever floats your boat, I guess. Be careful though.”

“Of what?”

“Well, we all thought once you guys declared love or whatever, the curse would lift but it didn’t. Curses that go wrong aren’t to be fucked with you know? If something’s wrong, that’s some dark magic to be messing with. We could all be in danger.”

“I never thought of that,” Yuuji admitted. “Do you have any idea what made the spell stop working right?”

“No idea. But I imagine by his birthday, we’ll find out, one way or another.”

Yuuji nodded and bid the clock goodnight, his mind spinning even faster now. To his surprise, as soon as he removed himself from the nice dinner clothes and hit the pillow, the thoughts, questions, and worries all vanished and he fell asleep immediately.

 

The next day was much like the previous, full of wandering the castle, experiencing what they could find to do.

Yuuji dragged the beast into the kitchen around midday, itching to do some cooking of his own. Because of the beast’s large size, he wasn’t much help in dealing with any of the finer aspects of cooking, but he stayed close by, watched, and listened to Yuuji’s rambling as he threw things together in a pan.

He made three times the normal recipe he used, seeking approval from the staff in the kitchen and drinking in their praise.

“Lunch is served!” Yuuji announced happily, thrusting a large plate in the beast’s face.

“It... looks good.” The beast reached out one hand.

Yuuji pulled the plate away quickly, smirking and holding out a fork.

The beast wrinkled his nose, but took the utensil, turning it over in his hand. “I haven’t used a fork in years. It doesn’t work out well for me. My hands are too big.”

Yuuji shrugged. “You don’t usually have a reason to use a fork. I’m here now though.”

“I don’t know how to do it.”

“You can learn.”

“...The food is going to get cold.”

Laughing, Yuuji held the plate out. “Then learn quickly!”

Sighing, the beast clumsily stabbed at the food, spilling a little big, but shoving most of it into his mouth.

Yuuji tried not to giggle when the beast fumbled through the meal and glared at him.

“Stop,” the beast growled softly.

“I’m not laughing at you; I’m laughing with you!”

“How can you be laughing with me if I’m not laughing.”

“You’re laughing on the inside, I’m positive.” Yuuji rested his hand on the tight, white shirt the beast was wearing, long, thick hair poking out from the edges. “Right here, you’re laughing.”

The beast took a step backward, looking at Yuuji’s outstretched hand silently.

“What, come here!” Yuuji laughed, reaching out again and digging his fingers into the hair on the beast’s shoulder.

“Not now.” The beast’s voice turned back into a growl and Yuuji quickly backed off.

“Sorry, it’s okay. Personal space, I get it. Let’s go take a walk outside, okay?”

With a curt nod, the beast followed as Yuuji jumped back of the kitchen.

The two ended up outside as the sun fell in the sky and the spring chill came to rest back over the property, far enough from the city that the lights were barely-visible twinkles in the distance.

Yuuji was laughing softly to himself, though the beast hadn’t broken a smile all day. Yuuji was okay with that, understanding quickly that he just wasn’t the smiling type and that didn't mean he wasn’t having fun.

“Hey, what if we had dinner out here,” Yuuji suggested. “Do you think the staff could pull that off?”

The beast nodded silently. “I’ve never eaten outside before.”

Yuuji smirked. “Really? It’s so much fun though! Watching the sunset while eating with good company? I always used to do that.”

“Isn’t it cold?”

“Throw on a coat, you’ll be fine. You’ve got all that fluff anyway.”

“Fluff...”

Yuuji laughed, running forward to an unused table in the courtyard and brushing snow off of it. “Man, this is going to be great! Everything is so pretty out here and the food here is always so good!”

“Your food is pretty good too...”

Yuuji turned on his heel, locking eyes. “Kenjirou! Thank you!”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Why not! You have a cute name! And we’re having a romantic sunset dinner on your porch!”

The beast didn’t reply.

The two sat at the table, Yuuji chattering happily and Kenjirou chiming in awkwardly when Yuuji asked him questions.

Dinner was fantastic as Yuuji had been expecting and the beast had even used silverware for most of the meal.

Yuuji inspected the fork in his hand and the dishes set out on the table in various stages of being devoured. “Can I ask another question? Why is everything here so dated? I feel like I stepped into the dark ages, you know? Fancy dining and clothes, castles and heirs to thrones? I get that there’s magic separating this place from the rest of the world, but why such a difference in time?”

“Time moves differently here. Because of the enchantment.”

A bit of panic flared up in Yuuji. “Really? So if time is slow in here, does that mean back in the real world it’s the year 3000 or something and everything I know is gone?”

“No. Everything is still the same out there. Time moves differently around  _ me _ specifically. This castle is from the sixteenth century and so am I. Because of the curse, I just age slowly.”

Yuuji cocked his head. “What do you mean?”

The beast growled and looked away. “It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t make a difference for you.”

Instead of fighting back, Yuuji let the beast have his space on the issue. The sun had gone down and Yuuji pulled his luxurious coat close around his shoulders.

“Are you cold?” the beast asked softly.

“I’m fine!” Yuuji chirped.

“Your cheeks are red.”

“Uh... I guess I can’t blame alcohol in this house, can I.”

“Do you want... another coat or a blanket or something?”

Yuuji stood up and approached the beast, not as menacing from the chair where Yuuji was almost at eye level with him. “What about you? Are you okay?”

“Fine.”

“Good.” Yuuji placed himself on the lap of the beast, leaning against the broad chest and feeling warmth radiating through the clothing. “Oh, man, you’re really warm. How do you survive the summer?”

The beast stiffened away from Yuuji.

Smiling, Yuuji pointed at the sky. “Relax. Look at the sky. It’s beautiful, isn’t it.”

“Yeah.”

“How are you feeling?”

“Okay.”

“Me too. Can I sit here with you?”

Kenjirou nodded.

Yuuji closed his eyes, resting his head on the beast’s chest and feeling the beating of his heart. “Kenjirou, can I...”

“What?”

“Stay here?”

“I said yes.”

“I mean  _ here _ here.” Yuuji breathed slowly, letting the warmth and the late night take him over.

 

“Wake up! Yuuji, get up!”

Yuuji’s eyes flew open to see the small teacup on the bedside table, grinning. “Good morning, Tsutomu. What’s going on?”

“Breakfast is ready!”

“Oh! Thank you. Did I... Did Kenjirou...”

“Carry you upstairs to bed? Yup! He’s downstairs waiting for you right now!”

“Tsutomu!” Yuuji held his hands out to pause the little teacup. “Look at me right now! I’m not wearing a shirt! Did he undress me?”

Tsutomu’s face fell. “You’re still wearing the same pants... at least. He didn’t—”

“Did he take my coat and my shirt off? Just answer me!”

“Yes!”

Yuuji buried his face in the pillow, feeling warm all over. “Why do I feel like this? Do you know how many people I’ve dated? Why am I freaking out because he got my shirt off while I was asleep?”

The teacup looked a little confused. “Are you... happy or sad?”

“I’m happy,” Yuuji breathed, sitting up and pressing his hands to his warm cheeks. “I’m in love. It’s crazy.”

“Go downstairs and see him then! He’s really excited to see you today too! He doesn’t really show it, but he’s stoked too!”

Yuuji stood up and approached the wardrobe. “What do you have for me today?

“Come back a little later,” Eita said, sounding as amused as a wardrobe could. “Just go downstairs.”

“Shirtless? This place is way too fancy for shirtless.”

“Just do it. Come on, you’re good at shirtless, aren’t you?”

Yuuji stood in front of the mirror, checking himself out, feeling a bit more in his element, still in dark pants from the previous night, but his chest bare and his hair messed up from sleep. “Oh yeah. I’m great at shirtless. This is what I do. But it’s... It’s Kenjirou. Is he okay with this?”

“I think he’ll be just fine with it when you go down there,” the wardrobe assured. “Here, take this sweater in case you need it, but don’t put it on unless you really need to. Just charm his socks off.”

Accepting the knit sweater and holding it in one hand, Yuuji took a deep breath, tucking his smile away behind a suave half-smirk before he exited his room.

Downstairs, Yuuji kept his eyes on the beast as he stepped into the lounge and cleared his throat softly.

Kenjirou didn’t say anything; just stared.

Yuuji blushed. “Hi. Sorry, your wardrobe kicked me out of the room half naked. It’s not totally my fault.”

“It’s fine. Breakfast?”

Yuuji smiled and sat down in a chair, taking a plate of small danishes. “How’d you sleep last night?”

“Fine. Your messy hair says you did as well.”

Yuuji laughed out loud. “Yeah, I feel good. Thanks for taking care of me last night. Sorry for passing out on you.”

“It’s no problem. I just didn’t want you to be cold.”

“Thanks. I appreciate that! Did you have anything you wanted to do today?”

“Not particularly. There’s really not that much to do stuck in here. I don’t know why you’re still here instead of back in town with your friends.”

“You’re fun to be around! And you haven’t heard all my stories yet.”

“Do you have something else to share?”

“I dunno. I can come up with something, but I was wondering if you have any stories you want to tell me.” Yuuji sat on the edge of his chair, resting his chin on his fist.

The beast’s familiar scowl returned. “I’m not that interesting. Other than the obvious, I mean. And I don’t want to talk about that.”

The warning Yuuji had been given by Taichi came back into his head. “Your birthday is coming up, isn’t it? You’re not worried about the curse going wrong somehow? What if you’re in danger. I don’t know if I can help, but sometimes it’s really nice just to get it off your chest. You have to hold a lot of things inside, don’t you.”

“Remember how I told you that time moves differently here? In your time, I was born four hundred years ago. And everything was normal until the curse. That’s when time messed up.”

“What happened?”

“It was five years ago in my lifetime. I was barely seventeen. Everything in life had gone my way, but I was an asshole, I see it now looking back. I was rude to everyone and I can’t even use my privileged upbringing as an excuse. My... My parents didn’t want me. They left me here by myself with the servants and never came back. They said I was unlovable, that I was doomed to be angry and alone forever. That’s when the curse was placed upon me. I had to find true, unconditional love by the time I turned twenty-one, or I’d never change back. I was really mad for a long time. I thought it was my appearance from the curse that would drive people away, but I’d been driving people away all my life with my personality that’s even uglier than my appearance.”

“So what have you been doing all this time then?”

“A whole lot of nothing. I was angry for a while and did nothing for myself. Then I got desperate and I tried capturing people and forcing them to love me, but obviously, that didn’t work. In the last few months, I’ve given up, I guess. I knew I was going to be like this until I died. So I accepted it. Because time passes differently for me, I’ve spent hundreds of years like this, alone and looking for love in all the wrong places. It was agony. But the clock is finally winding down. When you came, I got angry again because I liked you and I thought it was just fate teasing me. Finally, there was someone who interested me, even just a little bit, but with so little time left, I never thought it would work. Maybe it could’ve but the curse is messed up and I don’t know why. So I guess I’ll just keep aging slowly, alone and ugly and... like this.”

Yuuji closed his eyes. Hundreds of years, Kenjirou had spent alone. That kind of time would make anyone bitter. “I really want to help you Kenjirou. If you think intimacy might be the answer, I will do that for you.”

“No, I really don’t think that’s it. True love is what I’m looking for. That’s not synonymous with sex. There has to be another way.”

“Kenjirou, when is your birthday exactly? I didn’t want to ask, but I need to know.”

“It’s tomorrow. In theory, I have until midnight. That’s sixteen hours from now. But maybe it’s already too late, considering we love each other but the curse hasn’t lifted yet.”

“At 11:30, if you haven’t found the answer, that can be the last ditch effort, alright? If you have nothing else to lose, just try it. I have that wine upstairs too. I know there’s probably better stuff in here, but heck with it. You’ll be twenty-one and nothing to stop you. No matter what form you’re in, we’ll have a toast and celebrate your birthday the right way.”

“I just don’t want to hurt you.”

Yuuji reached out and placed his hand within one of the beast’s. “I’ll be fine. We have the whole day to try other things too. Hope isn’t lost yet, alright?”

“Almost four hundred years and this is the closest I’ve ever come to love and I still got it wrong.”

“Hey, look at me.” Yuuji rose from his chair and stood in front of the beast, taking his other hand. “You didn’t get it wrong. You have me. Even if you’re stuck like this forever, you have me and I am your friend no matter what. Does that feel like you got it wrong?”

The beast shook its head.

“Exactly. You got it very very right. If there is an answer out there, we will find it by tonight and I will be by your side at midnight and I will stay awake until then, just trust me. I will be there by your side and if this is life, so be it.” Yuuji pressed his forehead against the beast’s. “Okay?”

Kenjirou nodded. “Okay. I just don’t get it. The rose is still alive.”

“The rose?”

“Upstairs in the tower. In my room. In the glass box. You saw it the first night. When it wilts completely, time’s up.”

Yuuji thought about that silently until the door to the lounge flew open, making both of them jump slightly. Standing in the doorway, looking unnerved, was the clock.

“What is it, Taichi?” The beast growled, pulling away from Yuuji and sounding annoyed.

The clock held out a flat rectangular device in one of its hands. “Yuuji, your phone is ringing. It’s an unknown number, but Hayato’s been watching it and it’s the same number over and over again. He says it might be important.”

Yuuji quickly retrieved his phone, realizing he hadn’t even looked at it since he’d talked to Kazuma. The device was vibrating in his hand and Yuuji quickly pressed the green button and raised it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Do you know who I am?”

“No. Should I?”

“You broke up with Hana the other day. I’m her new boyfriend. She’s been heartbroken ever since and I want you to pay for what you did to her. I will fight you for her honor and the honor of everyone else who you’ve been so shallow with.”

Yuuji swallowed thickly. “Uh, I’m kinda busy right now actually. I’m out of town for a while—”

“I know. You’re in the castle. Trust me, I’m right outside and I have a gun and I’m prepared to take you down if I have to. For Hana’s honor.”

“Hey, let’s talk this out—”

“Come outside. Or I’ll come inside.”

The phone clicked and Yuuji stared at it in his hand. He looked up into the beast’s inquiring eyes. “I need to go. I’ll be back. Stay here.”

“What’s happening?” the beast asked, voice a low rumble.

“Trouble. I broke up with a girl and her new boyfriend is here to avenge her honor. I need to go sort this out.”

“Do you need my help? I’d back you up.”

Yuuji smiled and took Kenjirou’s hand. “No offense, but I don’t think adding a beast to the mix would calm things down. And I don’t want to risk anything happening to you.” Yuuji reached up and touched the bandage around the beast’s arm from the first night. “Remember this? I’m here to take care of you and I don’t want you to get hurt.”

“I don’t want anything to happen to you either.”

“If I thought I was in danger, I wouldn’t do this. I want you to lift the curse. I’m your only hope for that, aren’t I. I wouldn’t take that risk with my life and your life. Besides, I always keep this on me.” Yuuji pulled a knife from his pocket, placing a false smile over his lie. “Just in case! This won’t take long. Wait for me.”

“I will.” The beast nodded as Yuuji slipped his hands away, wiggled into his sweater, and left through the lounge door.

Yuuji’s composure broke almost immediately when he was out of sight. Stepping outside the front door, Yuuji saw a small mob of people.

“Who are all of you?” he called out, voice shaking.

The man at the front of the crowd stepped forward. “We’re all the people who you’ve hurt. Look around.”

And Yuuji did look. Amongst the crowd, he saw people he knew and some he didn’t, former dates and new partners who found his name etched in scar tissue on their lover’s broken hearts. There was a bullet with his name on it here and he had invited it into his life. And yet, he felt the most regret for lying to Kenjirou. By dying out here, the beast would stay in his form forever and he would die someday, old and alone. But he was doomed anyway. He had been doomed from the moment he made the mistake of falling for Yuuji. The least Yuuji could do now was die a failure on this front porch and avoid telling the truth he’d been trying so hard to hide from his newest lover.

“What do you have to say for yourself?” someone from the crowd yelled.

Yuuji trained his eyes on the barrel of the gun pointed straight at him. “That I definitely deserve this.” He waited for the shot.

“And?”

“And I’ve been a world class loser and if I can have another chance to live, I won’t date more than one person at a time unless it is fully consensual polyamory?”

The man at the head of the pack laughed. “What do we say, do we give him another chance? Or has he had enough shots to change himself already?”

A chorus of cheers broke out and Yuuji’s stomach sunk. He closed his eyes and listened to the bang as the gun went off.

A shadow fell across Yuuji’s vision, darkening the sunlight he could still see behind his closed eyes. Dying was rather peaceful, he thought.

Then something heavy fell against him and his eyes shot open.

Kenjirou’s blood spilled onto the snow, dyeing it red and melting it away.

Yuuji thought he might have screamed, but he wasn’t sure. He knelt next to the creature and looked into his rapidly blinking eyes. “No, no, no! Kenjirou, what did you do!”

The beast growled and huffed in pain, pawing at his side where the bullet had hit him.

Yuuji pressed his hands over the wound as well, watching red ooze from between his fingers. Shouts and chattering echoed from the crowd and Yuuji turned to yell “Don’t shoot again! He’s innocent!” Yuuji didn’t care what anyone below would think of him with a beast. All he cared about was Kenjirou’s labored breathing and fluttering eyelids.

“Y-Yuuji...”

“Kenjirou, I told you to stay inside!” Tears formed in the corners of Yuuji’s eyes.

“You told me, it wouldn’t be dangerous,” the beast gasped. “I can’t let you get killed like this; I need you. Not just because of the curse, but in general. I need you!”

“You didn’t need to let yourself get shot!”

“Better me than you! Without you, the clock will strike midnight tonight and I’ll be a beast forever. I wouldn’t have made it long before loneliness took me anyway. You can use a second chance much better than I can. You have a chance to live your life!”

Yuuji shook his head slowly, letting the tears fall. “Kenjirou, I lied to you. The curse isn’t faulty. You did everything right. The reason it didn’t work is because of me. I’m the faulty cog in the machine. Because it was me you fell for, it was never going to work. But I didn’t want to tell you. I didn’t think you’d get yourself shot over it though!”

“What do you mean?” Kenjirou’s speech was becoming slurred.

“Hey, what are you doing up there!?” came a cry from the crowd, quickly getting over their shock at seeing the beast. “And what is  _ that _ !?”

Yuuji ignored them. “I told you I loved you. That wasn’t a lie. But I’m the guy who dates six people at once if I can. Love isn’t all that hard to earn from me. You have my love, but it will never be enough because love from me isn’t worth a damn.”

The crowd was rushing toward them now, brandishing other weapons. Yuuji spared them a glance, but kept his focus on the face of the beast, screwed up in pain and betrayal and defeat. Yuuji slid his hand into his pocket and drew out his knife, flicking it open easily and holding it against his own throat. “I’m sorry for screwing you over. I can’t live like this anyway. I want to be with you forever, so let me die today too. If those psychos don’t get me first, I’ll follow you of my own accord. I’m sorry I couldn’t lift your curse, babe.”

“Yuuji, wait!”

The tip of the knife dug into Yuuji’s neck and he felt a drop of blood slide down his skin.

“Yuuji! Confess to me. Confess everything to me!”

“I’m embarrassed enough!” Yuuji shut his eyes. “But I owe you everything. I’m a lying, dishonorable coward, never brave enough to make a commitment. If I could have another shot, I’d make it count, because I don’t feel the same about you. Everyone else was just for kicks, but I care about you and I wish I could’ve done something sooner. But I’ve failed the one person I truly care about. It’s not worth it anymore, but the thought of forever with you somewhere beyond this earth, that’s all I have left to hold onto. I’m sorry it had to be this way. I love you.” Opening his eyes again, Yuuji locked gazes with Kenjirou, seeing the expression that had changed his perspective on the first night. Kenjirou’s expression was scared and pained and helpless, not like the beast his body occupied.

The angry mob was upon them quickly and Yuuji felt a much-deserved blow to his back. He turned away from his attackers so all he had to look at was Kenjirou.

The beast’s mouth was parted in a silent scream as he struggled to sit up against the flurry of blows against him too.

“I love you!” Yuuji screamed again, shutting his eyes and clinging to the beast’s body.

Light brighter than the sun glared against Yuuji’s closed eyelids and he opened them just a crack to witness Kenjirou’s glowing body.

Screams of confusion and fear echoed around him as people from the town fled from the castle grounds, no longer interested in the petty lover’s feud they’d come for.

The beast’s skin was burning hot and Yuuji fell back away from him too, getting shakily to his feet and shielding his eyes, wide with speechless wonder.

Stumbling slightly, the beast rose to his feet too, clawing at the bullet wound in his side and writhing from within the glowing aura.

And suddenly, the light was gone and the body was collapsing.

Yuuji lunged forward to capture bare shoulders, faintly glowing with residual heat. Eyelids were gently closed from within a fair face. The beast had disappeared instantly, leaving a limp, slender human body in Yuuji’s arms. Yuuji was still crying as he adjusted his hold. “K-Kenjirou?”

The eyes fluttered open, dull gold in the sunlight. A thin hand brushed, straight, light brown bangs out of his blinking eyes. “Yuuji?”

Yuuji sobbed, clutching Kenjirou against his chest. “You’re alive! You’re  _ you _ ! You broke the curse!”

Kenjirou threw his arms around Yuuji. “ _ We _ broke the curse, Yuuji. Both of us.”

With the sun shining down on them and the shouts of the angry mob far away, Yuuji thought he could’ve stood there forever on the porch with the love of his life. But instead, he shifted out of the hug after a few seconds, looking Kenjirou over. “We need to get you inside.”

The beast-sized clothes hung off Kenjirou’s slight frame comically, many of the articles already having fallen to the ground. Kenjirou blushed, quickly tugging his frilled shirt back onto his shoulders and reaching down to hold the sinking pants up against his waist.

“Not that,” Yuuji chuckled, looking him over. “I thought you would still be hurt but you’re not bleeding anymore!”

“Good. I fucking hate blood. It makes me dizzy just seeing it. I guess the beast got shot, but I’m fine,” Kenjirou said, looking himself over. “You are, just a little bit. Did they hit you hard?”

Yuuji inspected a couple tears in the fabric of his clothes, matted with red. His neck was still bleeding from where he’d held the knife to his skin. It didn’t feel life threatening though. “This is nothing. I’ll be fine.” Yuuji’s gaze flicked up to meet Kenjirou’s, much easier within this body. “You’re really cute,” he blurted.

Kenjirou blushed fiercely. “Stop looking at me when I’m barely wearing any clothes!”

Yuuji smirked, ushering Kenjirou back inside the castle, already looking brighter and more alive than before.

A group of people rushed forward to meet them and Yuuji tensed before realizing that it was the furniture he’d befriended who looked after the castle. They were people now, that Yuuji didn’t recognize but that he somehow still felt like he knew.

“Kenjirou!” Satori yelled, the first to bodyslam the young man with a hug, quickly followed by the others.

Kenjirou pushed them all away with one hand, still clutching at his baggy pants with the other. He blushed and glanced at Yuuji before adopting a stern tone of voice. “Get off me. Some of you need to help Yuuji with his injuries. But let me go, all of you. I’m fine. I want a bath. And a nap. Dinner better be ready when I am.”

Yuuji admired him, touching his shoulder lightly. “What was this whole deal about being less of a jerk? I thought you learned that lesson.”

Kenjirou glared. “I am less of a jerk. Do you have a problem with me?”

Yuuji snickered. “Not at all. Go enjoy your bath. I’ll see you for dinner?”

Kenjirou’s mouth flickered with a grin. “Yeah. See you for dinner.”

Yuuji would’ve stood there, still looking on in awe if several hands wouldn’t have landed on his shoulders and pulled him away in the direction of his room. Hayato, Eita, and Satori were with him, the other staff members going with Kenjirou in the opposite direction. As soon as they were around a corner and out of sight, the three castle residents embraced Yuuji in unison,

“You  _ did _ it!” Satori shrieked. “You lifted the curse and everything is back to normal now! I knew it would be you! I knew from the first moment I saw you that you were going to be the one!”

Yuuji grinned, letting the joy of the moment wash over him, even though his mind was still trailing off in the other direction, still thinking about Kenjirou. The staff members led him up to his room, still cheering and chattering excitedly and sometimes even breaking into song. He felt exhausted and completely wired at the same time. His body ached from the blows the angry mob had gotten in before Kenjirou’s transformation had scared them away but he’d never been more excited in his life. He’d found true love and he hadn’t even really been looking for it. It had taken a near-death experience to finally pin it down, sure, but it was worth every second.

Still daydreaming absently, Yuuji was led into the bathroom and coaxed into a tub of steaming water to soothe his aching body and wash away the dried blood that still clung to his skin.

“Did you want to rest too?” Eita asked. “I don’t know if you’re tired or sore or anything but this castle isn’t super exciting when you’re alone and we don’t wake Kenjirou up when he’s sleeping.”

Yuuji shook his head, still smiling. “He can rest as long as he needs to. He’s been through a lot today. I have an idea though. Now that the curse is broken, he’ll age normally, right?”

“Yep!” Satori supplied.

“Sooo... it really doesn’t need to be so sixteenth-century in here anymore, does it.”

“I guess not. Why, are you going to redecorate the entire place in an afternoon?”

“Not all of it.” Yuuji patted the wardrobe in his room, slightly unnerved that it was as still and lifeless as the rest of the castle’s furniture now that the animated ones had turned back into people. “Any of you know Kenjirou’s measurements off the top of your head?”

“You’re going to get him new clothes?”

Yuuji shrugged. “Consider it a birthday present. He needs something a little more twenty-first century. He’s human again and there’s nothing stopping him from going into town or living his life normally. But no matter who you are, you’re going to get looks, dressed like a medieval prince.”

Eita smirked. “His human measurements are written down. Haven’t needed them in a couple centuries, but I know where they are.”

Unable to keep the smile off his face, Yuuji sat down on the edge of his bed and pulled his cell phone out of the pocket of the pants he’d been wearing, dialing a familiar number.

“It’s been days, dude!” Kazuma answered. “You can’t just tell me you’re living in a castle with a beast and then go quiet like that!”

“It’s fine! Everything is okay now and Kenjirou is human again!”

“Who’s Kenjirou?”

“My fiancé!”

“Your  _ what _ ?”

“It’s a really long story, okay? You would not believe the day I’m having. But I need a huge favor from you! In return, uh, you’re never going to have to clean up any of the messes I make of relationships ever again because I’m done making that mistake!”

“What’s the favor?”

“It needs to be quick because dinner is in just a few hours but I need you to do some suit shopping for me. I can’t come back into town right now; I’m going to wait a few days until things cool down and people stop trying to shoot me in the face. What do you say? One last act as my wingman?”

“Who the fuck is shooting at you?”

“That’s not important! Will you help me?”

“Uh, yeah, sure, I guess. But I want an explanation of all of this later. I’m so lost right now.”

“I’ll tell you everything over the phone if you want, but you need to go to the nicest clothing store in the city. I’ll tell you measurements once you’re there. Two suits. One for me because even my nicest suit is awful in comparison to anything here, and one for Kenjirou because all he owns is sixteenth-century nonsense.”

“Do I even want to hear this story? What is happening? Are you high?”

“I’m not high, I promise! Will you get the suits for me?”

“Yeah, sure. Do you need me to bring them to you?”

“Yes, please! Go to the outskirts of the city and just keep walking. If you’re looking for the castle, you’ll find it. Or maybe now that the curse is broken, it’s not hidden anymore? I’m not sure, but you’ll be able to find it!”

“Okay, Yuuji, you might not be high, but I’m going to need to be to hear this story. Come over when you have time and we’ll talk. I’ll get you the suits though. Text me the measurements I need to be looking for and I’ll bring them to you.”

“I owe you the world, Kazuma!”

“Hell yeah, you do. I’ll catch you later.”

Yuuji smiled and laid back on the bed, daydreaming contentedly until Eita returned with an ancient sheet of parchment with a series of numbers for Kenjirou’s height, sleeve length, seat, inseam, chest, and waist size. He wasn’t sure how he could fall in love with a set of numbers, but it was happening. Yuuji had his own measurements saved in his phone and he texted both sets to Kazuma and sat back to wait and daydream some more.

 

A few hours later, Yuuji got a text from Takeharu that he and Kazuma were both outside the castle. Yuuji raced to the front entrance, throwing open the massive, wooden doors to greet his friends.

Takeharu looked nervous, understandable since the first time he’d stepped inside this castle, he’d ended up in a dungeon. Kazuma just looked shell-shocked as he stood frozen in the doorway with two garment bags in his hand.

Yuuji hugged both his best friends and pulled them inside. “Hi! Thank you guys for doing this for me! I owe you big time! Welcome to my home!”

Kazuma shoved the suit bags at Yuuji. “Wanna take a look and see if you like what we picked out?”

“Nope!” Yuuji accepted the bags anyway. “I’ll look at mine later. I want to be surprised though!”

Takeharu’s eyes darted around the expansive entryway. “Where’s the... y’know, the beast?”

“Do you want to see? He’s a little different now. And by different, I mean he fits into the smaller of those two suits.”

Yuuji led his hesitant friends inside and up to the guest room that Kenjirou was currently occupying since his own was fairly destroyed from his beast years. Yuuji opened the door slowly, spotting an unmoving lump in the bed before he entered all the way.

Takeharu and Kazuma eyed the sleeping man while Yuuji hung the designated suit bag on the handle of the wardrobe. Yuuji approached the bedside, silently gazing at Kenjirou’s relaxed, sleeping face. He motioned his companions back out of the room after a minute, not wanting to risk waking Kenjirou up before he was ready.

“So that’s Kenjirou.” Yuuji smirked.

Takeharu narrowed his eyes. “I’m with Kazuma, I’m going to need a very detailed explanation of what went down in here. I’m not following. Whenever you come back to the city, come hang out with your old pals and clue us in, yeah? I’m getting out of here; I still don’t feel entirely safe in this castle.”

Yuuji was a little sad, but he knew with time, he’d get his friends to be comfortable here and around Kenjirou. A lot of changes would be happening in the near future and Yuuji was excited for all of it. He showed his friends back to the front door before returning to his room and showing off his new suit to Satori, Eita, Wakatoshi, Reon, and Hayato who had all been watching him with his friends, keeping just out of sight so as not to disturb.

They all looked impressed as Yuuji changed and stood confidently in front of the mirror in black slacks and dress shoes, a white shirt and cumberbund, a black bowtie, and a white tuxedo jacket with black buttons and lapels.

“Modern stuff is pretty cool,” Eita admitted. “I’m going to be pretty okay when we redecorate this place to match the times. I want a suit like that.”

“This place will update fabulously,” Yuuji promised. “The whole dark ages thing is a cool vibe, but I’m excited about the improvements we can make.”

Satori waved to get Yuuji’s attention. “You got Kenjirou a suit like that too?”

Yuuji nodded. “It may or may not be exactly the same; I didn’t look because surprises are fun. But he’s going to look great in it. I know that for sure. You guys will make sure he wears it, right?”

The others promised, Wakatoshi and Reon leaving, deciding it was getting late and someone should make sure Kenjirou was awake.

Yuuji chatted with the servants who remained in his room, stepping into the adjoining bathroom to fix his hair and apply a bit of makeup to cover the visible marks from the minimal injuries he’d sustained earlier. “I... I don’t know why, but I’m more nervous now than when he was a beast. And it makes no sense because I’ve gone on dates with so many guys before and this shouldn’t be a deal. With the beast, it was so clearly and obviously out of the norm. But now it’s... It’s  _ Kenjirou _ and I feel like I don’t know how to act or talk to him or what advances to make or even how to look at him? I don’t know what’s going on in my head or my heart, but I—”

“Yuuji.” Satori grabbed him by the shoulders, cutting him off. “He’s the same Kenjirou. You know how to handle him. With great care and the knowledge that he could probably bite your face off constantly in the back of your mind. That mostly still applies. But you also know how to have a good time with him and how to keep his attention and make him happy. He’s still the same Kenjirou you fell for so you just need to be the same Yuuji that he fell for.”

A knock sounded on the door and Tsutomu poked his head in. “Hey, dinner is— Woah, Yuuji! You look really good!”

Yuuji grinned and stepped toward the door. “Thanks! I’ve got a hot date!”

Despite all the thoughts in his head, Yuuji was silent on the way down to the dining room, letting Tsutomu ramble excitedly instead. Yuuji was led to one of the tall doors and then promptly abandoned with a pat on the back.

“Good luck! Have fun!” Tsutomu yelled, skipping away.

Taking a deep breath, Yuuji pushed the door open and stepped inside.

The fireplace danced with light that threw shadows and highlights across the room. The table was filled with food like it always was at mealtimes. The large chair at the far end of the table, usually just barely big enough for the beast to fit into, swallowed its occupant today. Kenjirou looked clean and fresh, dressed sharply in an all-black tuxedo. His eyes studied the table, his hands fiddling with a fork. 

Yuuji cleared his throat lightly to get Kenjirou’s attention.

The young man’s gaze shot up and connected with Yuuji’s for less than a second, before flicking away to the wall. “Hi.”

The half-second had been enough to make Yuuji’s heart skip a beat. It had been the same cornered, helpless expression that Yuuji had only seen a few times before, the most human he’d ever seen the beast. Again this time, it made him feel better. Kenjirou was just as nervous as he was. “Hi,” Yuuji replied, sitting down in his own too-large chair at the opposite end of the long table.

“How are your injuries?” Kenjirou asked, not making eye contact.

Yuuji took a bit of food onto his plate. “I feel fine. How are you feeling with your... everything?”

“I’m okay.” Kenjirou followed suit, filling a bowl with some soup and picking up his spoon hesitantly.

Yuuji laughed. “Glad I made you learn how to use silverware again?”

Kenjirou blushed. “It’s a bit easier now that everything’s the right size for me.” Despite the assurances, Kenjirou still looked a little shaky and he spilled a bit on the table.

Trying to hold another laugh back, Yuuji watched his partner hurriedly push the mess around with his napkin. “Maybe try something a little less liquid that doesn’t require so much finesse. You have new hands to get used to.”

“Old hands,” Kenjirou corrected.

“They’re new to me.” Yuuji studied them as best he could from across the long table, wishing he could reach out and take them in his own, smoothly and subtly, a move he’d pulled dozens of times before. Granted, before, he wasn’t seated at such a long table, so far away from his date.

“I guess,” Kenjirou said quietly, taking a piece of bread from a basket and staring at it.

“What’s wrong?”

Kenjirou blushed again. “Table manners. Do I take a bite out of it or do I tear a piece off and eat it one bit at a time? It’s been a long time since I’ve had to care.”

Yuuji pushed his chair back, deciding he’d had enough of being half a room away from his partner. Kenjirou looked up at him curiously from his own chair. “Shove over.” Yuuji gestured. “These chairs are big enough for the both of us and I don’t want to be so far away from you.

Kenjirou looked hesitant, but he shifted to make room for Yuuji. It was a tight fit, but they could both sit in the large chairs side by side.

Smiling, Yuuji took the bread off Kenjirou’s plate and tore off a piece, hovering it in front of Kenjirou’s mouth.

Kenjirou’s blush seemed to be permanently fixed on his cheeks now, but his opened his mouth and let Yuuji feed him.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know jack about table manners either,” Yuuji admitted, repeating the action. “So I was pretty glad to end up in the one castle in the world occupied by a beast with no manners either. Any other royal dinner, I’d probably get the boot so fast. I really couldn’t tell you if it’s better to take bites or to tear off pieces of bread because this really isn’t my scene. But what I do know, is romance. I like to think I’m pretty experienced with that.” Yuuji grinned and fed Kenjirou more bread.

“Well, I guess we can make our own rules now.” Kenjirou fidgeted like he didn’t know what to do with his hands while Yuuji was feeding him. “I can eat my own food by myself though.”

Yuuji smirked, holding the bread out. When Kenjirou reached up to take it, Yuuji pulled it away quickly, popping a piece into his own mouth, then offering another to Kenjirou.

Kenjirou snarled, then clapped his hands over his mouth.

Yuuji laughed at the embarrassed expression on Kenjirou’s face. “Old habits die hard, huh?” The growl sounded a lot less menacing from Kenjirou than from the beast and it delighted Yuuji. The display of aggression probably wasn’t supposed to be endearing, but Yuuji just wanted to be pressed impossibly closer to Kenjirou than he already was. He put the bread back down and pulled Kenjirou’s legs over his own, positioning the young man on his lap.

Letting out an undignified noise, Kenjirou blushed yet again, halfheartedly pushing at Yuuji’s chest to escape his hold.

“Relax,” Yuuji shushed him. “It’s not that weird. We were prepared to do the nasty at the end of the night anyway if we couldn’t get you back to human so this is nothing.

Kenjirou’s nose was still wrinkled in a snarl, but he relaxed slowly. “Yeah, glad we avoided that.”

Yuuji laughed. “We still could. As humans. Heck, I could top you; you’re little.”

“I’m not little!” Kenjirou snapped.

“You’re littler than me,” Yuuji argued, running his hands down Kenjirou’s sides. “I’m not that tall. You’re shorter than me.”

“Fuck this, I want to be the beast again,” Kenjirou growled under his breath.

“That’s not an option, babe, sorry,” Yuuji snickered. “It’s okay, I love you like this too. It doesn’t matter to me what you look like. I fell in love with what’s in here.” Yuuji rested his hand on Kenjirou’s chest, slipping his fingers under the back jacket to feel his heart racing.

Kenjirou rolled his eyes. “Too bad I fell in love with someone who’s attracted to anything that breathes.”

“Hey, I gave up on that life,” Yuuji laughed. “You’re the only one I want now. And I’m just glad you don’t have to be miserable for the rest of your life in a body that isn’t yours. Couple hundred years to break a curse and we did it with sixteen hours to spare. How about that?”

“Yeah...” Kenjirou nodded. “I was so scared it wasn’t going to work. I thought once I solved my problem and learned how to love, it would all be over. I didn’t think it was you getting in the way.”

Yuuji fingered the lapels of Kenjirou’s jacket thoughtfully. “Well, love goes in two directions. I may not have been turned into a beast, but I had a curse all my own that I needed your help to break too. Thank you. I owe you my life.”

“I owe you mine too.”

Yuuji pressed a kiss to the side of Kenjirou’s mouth. “Good. Now that we’re so deep in debt, we’ll never be able to escape each other,” Yuuji said with a fast grin. He glanced down at his wristwatch. “Hey. Your birthday is in six hours. I know your transformation is a bit bigger of a deal, but we have to celebrate that too. If there’s anything you want that I can get for you, just say the word.”

 

Yuuji didn’t mind the frigid air from the balcony one bit. Behind him, just inside the glass doors was the glass box holding the wilted rose that nobody cared about anymore. The tower chamber was still a mess of splintered wood and shattered furniture, but Yuuji hadn’t minded the unsettling decor while he was in bed with Kenjirou.

In one hand, he held a glass of red wine, the bottle sitting next to him on the floor that he’d taken out of his own room, per Kenjirou’s request. The cold ground of the stone balcony didn’t bother Yuuji either, wrapped in blankets and still feeling residual warmth from passion beforehand. Yuuji’s other arm was occupied holding Kenjirou tightly in his lap, more blankets swirled around his narrower shoulders and obscuring the rest of him.

From all the way up here, they could see the lights of the city in the distance. The clock tower that stood in the center of the town chimed twelve times. Neither Yuuji not Kenjirou moved until it had finished.

“Happy birthday,” Yuuji whispered, stealing a quick kiss, then raising his glass. “Want to make a toast?”

Kenjirou looked at the glass of blood red liquid in his own hands and hesitantly lifted it. “To curses lifted?”

Yuuji nodded his agreement. “To curses lifted and to true love, the one thing we needed, but didn’t know how to find. To new beginnings and to no more endings and the aging normally for the rest of our lives, and a tale as old as time.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, let's talk. I want to get a little meta with this because this fic has a bit of meaning behind it! If you're not suuuuper familiar with Beauty and the Beast, know that Belle, the protagonist, is kind of a flat character. Her appearance in the castle does instigate the change in the beast, but she doesn't change much other than accepting her feelings for the beast (or maybe it's just Stockholm syndrome. Maybe I'm the only one who thinks that). The beast is really the character who changes throughout the story. He starts off bitter and curse-ridden and through Belle's kindness, he softens. It bothered me to watch the movie again with all my writing experience because we see Belle as kind and loving at the beginning and at the end, without having many alterations to her character. That's why in this, I created Yuuji with his own set of flaws, his own curse. I believe so firmly in flawed characters and I couldn't let him be the face of goodness (even though he is. My sunshine son.). I knew I wanted him to really be just as flawed as Kenjirou, even though his curse didn't manifest itself in the same way.  
> The other part of relevant Beauty and the Beast plot is that the resolution was fairly simple. The beast and Belle both proclaimed their love and the problem was solved. I also know as a writer that no resolution is that simple and I also didn't want to copy the format of the original. But I think the failure to break the curse furthers the bond that Yuuji and Kenjirou now have. I thought it would be an injustice to disregard the mental and emotional changes that both need to go through to make simple love the end result.
> 
> Moral of the story, there are no perfect people and the "fairy tale ending" that ends with a love declaration, isn't realistic. Of course, I respect Beauty and the Beast as a story immensely or I wouldn't have drawn from it for inspiration, but I hope this piece depicts something even more realistic, love that is complicated and lovers that are just as far from simple.
> 
> Thank you so much for reading; this piece was a lot of fun and a lot of work, but I'm very proud of how it turned out. Hope everyone has a great day today! Go out there and lift someone's curse and maybe you'll find your own curse lifted as well ;)


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